In this state of things, some looked to
the Audience, and yet more to Gonzalo Pizarro, to protect them.
That chief was slowly advancing towards Lima, from which, indeed,
he was removed but a few days' march. Greatly perplexed, Blasco
Nunez now felt the loneliness of his condition. Standing aloof,
as it were, from his own followers, thwarted by the Audience,
betrayed by his soldiers, he might well feel the consequences of
his misconduct. Yet there seemed no other course for him, but
either to march out and meet the enemy, or to remain in Lima and
defend it. He had placed the town in a posture of defence, which
argued this last to have been his original purpose. But he felt
he could no longer rely on his troops, and he decided on a third
course, most unexpected.
This was to abandon the capital, and withdraw to Truxillo, about
eighty leagues distant. The women would embark on board the
squadron, and, with the effects of the citizens, be transported
by water. The troops, with the rest of the inhabitants, would
march by land, laying waste the country as they proceeded.
Gonzalo Pizarro, when he arrived at Lima, would find it without
supplies for his army, and thus straitened, he would not care to
take a long march across a desert in search of his enemy. *16
[Footnote 16: Ibid., lib. 5, cap. 12. - Fernandez, Parte 1, lib.
1, cap. 18.]
What the viceroy proposed to effect by this movement is not
clear, unless it were to gain time; and yet the more time he had
gained, thus far, the worse it had proved for him.
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